There were mixed fortunes for football s big guns over the last weekend and that s being kind to at least one of them.
The Premier League remains as open as ever, with Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham failing to win, while Liverpool got back in gear against West Brom, but Jose Mourinho s Manchester United saved a year s worth of errors for their humilitation at Chelsea.
In LaLiga, Barcelona and Real Madrid scraped narrow wins but Atletico Madrid were finally undone by Jorge Sampaoli s sublime Sevilla, while Borussia Dortmund lost further ground to Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga.
Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille drew blanks in a Classique that had millions on the edge of their seats wondering if anybody was going to shoot, but there was considerably more to mull over in Milan, as AC s young guns shocked Juventus while Inter fans left Mauro Icardi alone long enough to demand Frank de Boer s head.
But away from Europe s major players, there were some remarkable stories
RUI VITORIA S HALF-TON MAKES BENFICA HISTORY
Benfica comfortably dispatched Belenenses on Sunday to earn head coach Rui Vitoria his 50th win in charge and make Portuguese history in the process.
Goals from Kostas Mitroglou his sixth in three games against these opponents and Alex Grimaldo sealed a record 16th away win in a row for the Eagles, eclipsing the previous best set by Jimmy Hagan s side between April 1972 and April 1973.
It was an exhibition that left me very pleased, said the coach, whose 50 wins have come in just 64 matches. I have to congratulate my team and the supporters. They remain three points clear of Porto.
A NEW MAGIC TRICK FROM A TRUE OLD BOY
Order was restored on Sunday as far as Newell s Old Boys are concerned as they won their first derby against Rosario Central in eight years at the Gigante de Arroyito.
To make it even sweeter, the solitary goal was scored by veteran Maxi Rodriguez, who rejoined his boyhood club in 2012 after 10 years in Europe with Espanyol, Liverpool and Atletico Madrid.
Newell s certainly rode their luck, with Luciano Pocrnjic producing heroics in the visiting goal, but the injury-time strike from the boot of La Fiera was worth the nerves for all concerned.
Indeed, for Rodriguez, it might just be the best goal he s ever scored better even than his unbelievable volleyed winner in the last-16 of World Cup 2006 for Argentina against Mexico.
I cheered the goal more than the one against Mexico at World Cup 2006, said the 35-year-old. If I had to choose how to win the Clasico, it d be like this.
HAGI S SON GETS SERIE A BOW
Amid a remarkable eight-goal thriller at Stadio Sant Elia on Sunday, Fiorentina fans got to savour one more special moment.
WIth the scores at 5-2 in their favour thanks to Nikola Kalinic s hat-trick and two from Federico Bernardeschi, the visitors handed a Serie A debut to Ianis Hagi with 14 minutes to play.
Granted, Marco Borriello scored a minute later for Cagliari to make the closing stages a little less comfortable, but the sight of the son of Romania great Gheorghe Hagi taking to the pitch was a real moment to savour.
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